Gervais to battle Little Britain stars

TV

13:30 07 November 2005

Ricky Gervais' new sitcom 'Extras' will battle it out with 'Little Britain' at the British Comedy Awards.

The hilarious BBC programmes have both been nominated for the Best TV Comedy prize, alongside 'The Catherine Tate Show'.

Ricky will also go head-to-head with 'Little Britain' funnymen Matt Lucas and David Walliams, as well as 'Help' star Chris Langham, for the Best Actor honour.

'Extras' - which has featured a string of star-studded cameos, including Kate Winslet, Ben Stiller and Samuel L Jackson - is nominated for a record five awards in total, including Best New TV Comedy and Best Actress and Best Newcomer for Ricky's co-star Ashley Jensen.

Meanwhile, 'Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway', 'Friday Night With Jonathan Ross' and 'The X Factor' will battle it out for the Best Entertainment Programme prize, while 'The Simpsons', 'Kath and Kim' and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' are all up for the Best International Show award.

The awards' executive producer Michael Hurll said: "This year's comedy output on TV is probably the strongest in 16 years of the awards."

The British Comedy Awards will be screened on ITV1 on December 14.



British Comedy Awards 2005 nominations:



Actor

Chris Langham ('Help', 'The Thick of It')

Matt Lucas and David Walliams ('Little Britain')

Ricky Gervais ('Extras')



Actress

Ashley Jensen ('Extras')

Catherine Tate ('The Catherine Tate Show')

Tamsin Greig ('Green Wing', 'Love Soup')



Entertainment personality

Ant and Dec ('Saturday Night Takeaway', 'I'm a Celebrity...')

Jonathan Ross ('Friday Night with Jonathan Ross')

Paul O'Grady ('The Paul O'Grady Show')



Newcomer

Ashley Jensen ('Extras')

Chris Addison ('The Thick of It')

David Mitchell ('Mock the Week', 'Peep Show')



New TV comedy

'Extras'

'Help'

'The Thick Of It'



TV comedy

'Extras'

'Little Britain'

'The Catherine Tate Show'



TV comedy drama

'Christmas Lights'

'Not Only But Always'

'Shameless'



Entertainment programme

'Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'

'Friday Night With Jonathan Ross'

'The X Factor'



International show

'Curb Your Enthusiasm'

'Kath and Kim'

'The Simpsons'



Film

'Festival'

'Sideways'

'The Incredibles'

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